


You don't have to say, "I love you, " to say I love you

by KammirPapass, Xadieve



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bro is Daven, Dad is Winston, Dirk mention, M/M, gamzee mention - Freeform, latula mention, signless is really Alec
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:38:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7865926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KammirPapass/pseuds/KammirPapass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xadieve/pseuds/Xadieve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Karkat was adopted before he could even say “dad” and he has no pictures of his ‘mom and dad’ so this is the only family he has ever known."</p><p>Sometimes the friend you've been online chatting with is a lot closer than you'd think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. my hopes, they are high, I must keep them small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Karkat let out a muffled scream"
> 
> A new computer can be fun.

It is the new year of 1999 and the young Karkat Vantas is a mere 7 years old. He is only 4 foot 8 and he couldn't really give a damn about it, yes he is short, yes he knows it. He has pale skin with far too many freckles to count all across his body, his hair a bright orange. He was adopted before he could even say “dad” and he has no pictures of his ‘mom and dad’ so this is the only family he has ever known. He wears a black hoodie everywhere even when it's the middle of summer, he wears grey cargo pants.

His loving father has saved for about a year, and finally, he was able to afford a computer for his family. He hadn't heard much about them besides the fact that his best friend, Gamzee, had gotten one when they first came out because his dad helped make it. But he didn't care much, he just wanted to have what his friend had. It wasn't fair that he had to wait. Not only wait to get one too, but to wait for his dad to do whatever it was to make it turn on and work. Karkat was seated on a chair near his dad, staring at what he was working on. It almost looked like magic, all those wires fitting and lights flicking on. His dad looked like an action hero working on a bomb that could wipe out the entire city, and moment now he could mess up and there would be no looking back! His eyes widened when something lighted up and everything started making whirring sounds and then the power was turned on. Everything was so new and exciting what could this computer do that they needed? He jumped up out of his chair a wide smile across his face

The house is a standard five bedroom house, a pool in the back and a study that holds all board games that sadly haven't been touched in years. Downstairs has two large living rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, one bedroom and the study. Its very open and styled to be more rustic, rugs matching couches, couch pillows matching the drapes, and a lovely large antique kitchen table, Alec's room is very neat and everything has a place and there is a queen size bed which is always made once he gets up each morning. Upstairs holds four bedrooms, kankri and karkat each have their own rooms adorned with what they like to have as decor. Two rooms have been decorated but not touched in some time. 

"is it working?" He wondered, with excitement riddled through his words. 

"Looks like it." His father stood upright, looking very proud of himself for hooking up everything correctly. "How about you go and get your brother so we can go out for dinner?" Alec placed a hand on Karkat's head ruffling his hair, before sending him there was a proud smile across his face.

Alec was the father of karkat and kankri, he loved his children with all of his heart and would do anything in the world to make sure they are okay, the 31 year old father stands at 6 foot 3 inches, he is broad shouldered which makes him seem a lot more intimidating than he would like for you to think he is, he wears suits mainly when he is headed to work, on his days off he lounges in a robe and boxers. He has a sweet face with lovely blue eyes and a sincere smile to match, he has a darker skin tone. 

After this, Karkat shrugged, and ran to his older brothers room, going up the stairs and down the long hallway he found the door was cracked slightly, the interior was about six posters of movies he liked and plenty of awards from school he was very proud of himself for achieving so much in school, even if no one else was proud of loved how good he was doing he could fill himself with the confidence. He only had a bed and a small dresser in his room for school work.

Karkat could hear Kankri laying on his side on his bed he was talking on the phone talking about some weird thing happening with his friend group, turns out Latula isn't dating anyone anymore which is super interesting. Karkat didn't understand and honestly, he didn't really want to. He made a mental note to never become like that, acting stupid and always on the phone talking to some lame friends.

"Hey! Dad wants you off the phone because you're an energy waster!" Karkat yelled from the hallway.

Kankri paused, then he pulled the phone away from his mouth as he replied; "I’m on a very important phone call! Leave me alone!" 

Kankri was a lanky 13 year old, short dark brown hair with gorgeous light hazel eyes, he had darker skin with a few freckles under his eyes. He would wear an extra large red sweater his mother gave to him when he was younger, he never leaves home without it on, heck he hardly takes it off even to wash it, he wears dark jeans and has a ‘matter-of-fact’ look on his face often when telling people anything he knows or feels.

Karkat opened the door more and let himself in, reaching for the phone. "No, come on, dad says you have to get off the phone!" He snapped.

"I guess I’ll call you back later, guys." Kankri sighed, as he glared down at Karkat. After he hung up, he set the phone down and hopped off the bed so he could lunge at Karkat, immediately tackling his younger brother to the ground. 

Karkat let out a muffled scream when he hit the ground, due to his brother’s arm covering his mouth. He retaliated by biting down on his arm, quickly ending the brief wrestling. As his brother drew back, he slid out of his grasp, and ran out of the room, nearly slipping on the tiled hallway floor as he went. He made a beeline towards the living room, where he found his dad, still standing by the computer. As soon as he spotted him, Karkat hid behind his legs, sticking close to him, as if he were a protective shield.

Alec looked down at his small child, and chuckled some, though concern was still present in his expression. "Now what are you two fighting about?" He turned around and knelt down so he could face Karkat, who was trying to conceal his cocky smile.

"Kankri hit me, so I got him back!" He said, matter-of-factly.

Kankri followed soon after Karkat not running but walking faster than normal, looking to Karkat he spoke, “I'm guessing you wanted something” He looks up “since he came in and interrupted me” He looked his dad in the face pointed to Karkat.

“Yes it was about dinner, we should go get some. What are you boys up for?” 

“I want to go to mcdonalds” Karkat chimes in.

Kankri crosses his arms “i don't really care where we can go, i just want to get back to my conversation because Mehnah and i were having a really important conversation.” he shoots a look at his brother before slowly closing his eyes “so i need to get back to that asap”

“Alright we can go after you two get ready” Alec stands and ushers Karkat to his room to help him get ready.


	2. My youth, my youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dave quickly ran after them noticing the bus had just pulled up and kids were piling into it."
> 
> Its a slow start to the rest of the school year.

It was an early January morning when the small blonde haired girl climbed into her foster father's bed and tried waking them both up. Sitting next to their heads she said, very loudly; "Come on sleepyheads, wakeup!" before they both quickly opened their eyes and looked over to her. 

The small three year old, Rose, had been this excited to wake up for about a month straight now. They weren't sure what was happening, but she was happy, and that's all they could ask for.

The older of the two, Winston, had scruff covering his chin and curly light brown locks of hair cut short and messy, he had smile lines along his face and a few wrinkles on his forehead. His eyes were a beautiful green with hues of blues running through it. He was in heart covered boxers and a t-shirt with the words;"Don't go bacon my heart" under a heart made out of bacon on it. His husband had gotten it for him some odd years back, due to his love of cooking and silly puns. He didn't look like the average accountant, more built than chubby and nerdy. He kept his hair nicely slicked back for work and he fit into a suit nicely, even if he wasn’t required to wear a suit. (It made him feel important.)

The younger of the two, Daven, closed his eyes again, definitely awake but obviously not wanting to be. It's not that he isn't a morning person, he just isn't a ‘wake up before the alarm’ kind of person. He had a slender face to match his lanky body, too long and too skinny, but it fit him. He didn't work out like he used to so there was some chub forming around his stomach, but for the most part he kept up with working out. His hair was a mess wavy medium short length blonde, and his eyes they were like two suns bursting forever. He had some stubble but it wasn't noticeable by much. He was in a pair of black boxers, but usually would wear a crisp white shirt with black pants.

Once Rose woke them both up she ran back to her room upstairs to play with her small stuffed cat she called ‘Jasper.‘

The house wasn't to old but it was definitely worn, it had a relatively nice blue paint job on the outside, there was a big front lawn and a nice backyard for the kids to play in. In the front yard there was a small garden of flowers that are nicely kept up. The house had two floors, a nuclear family’s paradise. The upstairs is fours bedrooms for each of the four kids, they each have remotely similar rooms besides what they put on their walls. The downstairs had a kitchen dining room and two living rooms, one for TV and family time, the other for practicing instruments. 

Rose’s room had her small toy chest which had an assortment of things, her diaries she would scribble in trying to write, her stuffed cats, and some other toys she cared much less about. She had a small bed and a closet full of various clothes, some of which she would only begrudgingly wear.

It was an early morning for the 7 year old, the first day of school after a break. Those were always the worst, 2 weeks of fun, sitting at home with all sorts of possibilities. But no that’s all gone now. Now it's time for talking to the few people that he knew outside of his family. With the sound of an alarm Dave woke within seconds, he was definitely grumpy from how early it was, looking around at his room you would see a desk covered in developed photos along with a camera. He wasn’t too good at taking pictures yet but he was very determined to master it. He also had a few jars or bugs he had found on the side of a sidewalk, they had been dead for a while before he picked them up. His walls had a few drawings that he had made taped up.

Dave really enjoyed the first grade, the teacher let him bring his camera for recess and he didn't have to play with anyone he didn't want to. He got the work right away for the most part, wasn't too bad with P.E either and he wasn't too bad with the other kids that did talk to him. He didn't have to make an effort on making new friends ever, they always found him and were super nice at first. After a while they lost interest in him and he just didn't get it, although he did have his backup friends. Meaning the people he always ate lunch with and would listen to him talk about pictures and how cool they are. 

He got out of bed around 8, which for a small child was too early, but he had to do it. He liked going to school. Making his way over to the closet, he found his favorite long sleeve shirt to put on, it was a grey shirt with a small red heart on the front, he found a pair of dark jeans and got into them before heading downstairs to the dining room. 

The hallway had pictures of each family member and group photos of them all, the stairs down were nice wood with carpeting. Entering the kitchen area it was warm and inviting the smell of breakfast still lingering. Turning to the left was the dining room, the table covered with plates and bowls of food and some juice and water in serving pictures. It all looks so delicious. 

It looked like everyone was up before Dave got himself up, it was a normal thing to get yourself up at the youngest age they could manage it. His two sisters sat across from each other, his brother next to the youngest sister, both dads sat at the head of the table and on the corner next. Dave took one of the open seats next to the oldest sister. Dave didn't really like Rose, she was annoying and well, 3, he wasn't sure how to feel about her besides love, since she was the only ‘real’ sibling he had. John was pretty cool, he had real cool toys, Dave didn't really play with toys but with John he would any day, he just thinks he's so nice and cool. Jade was the oldest and Dave really likes her, especially when she would read to him at night, as she would with all of the other kids.

John was a slightly chubby and tan kid, he had messy black hair that he would never fix because it was just too much work. The 9 year old would only wear shorts, he just didn't really like to wear pants unless absolutely necessary, or if it was just too cold outside. He wore thick rimmed glasses and had some freckles on both cheeks. He stands at 5 foot even, and loves his Ghostbusters shirt.

Dave honestly didn't give much thought to it but he loved this house deep down, all of the colors and every detail, it was home truly. Even at this young age he knew he would hate living anywhere else. The same goes for school, he could not imagine going to another school, he knew almost everyone there and the teachers loved him.

Jade being the oldest was the more responsible of the four, she was only 13 but she got to babysit everyone when their parents would go out for a night. She stood at 5 foot 3, she wears the same things, t-shirts and long shirts, she had to wear thin circle lense glasses.

 

Dave rubbed at his eyes, letting out a small yawn looking around the table seeing that there were pancakes, bacon and sausage and some toast. Turning to Jade he asked “hey get me some food.” it wasn't a demanding tone, more of asking. 

She was clearly still tired, nodding some to his request she smiles some, “what do you want?” Jade asks looking the food over some.

 

Dave pointed to the toast and bacon, he didn't eat the much in the mornings, “I want juice too!” he loved juice, really any kind just as long as it wasn't water he loved it. 

Jade gladly helped her short armed brother, pouring him some orange juice in a short cup for him, plating him a couple pieces of bacon and toast. 

 

After breakfast was finished, Dave brushed his teeth and grabbed his lunch box shoving it into his backpack. Dave slid on his pointy shades, which were a gift from his bus buddy. A bus buddy, if you didn't know, was a 5th grader who got assigned two first graders to sit on the bus with and look out for after school. Dave's buddy was Dirk this really cool skater guy, who just happen to have an extra pair of these awesome shades.

Winston was standing by the front door, he smiled down to the three kids, “i'm so proud of you all. I hope you have a good day at school kiddos” he knelt down some to hug Dave, next john then Jade. “i love you guys.” he stood again taking a step back to let them leave. He was a lot more affectionate than Daven.

 

Daven looked to them “good luck today kids.” smiling warm to them as a goodbye.

Jade giggled some, “yeah i'm sure it'll be great!” she opened the door and headed toward the bus station, staying slowish so the others could catch up easily.

 

John held his bag up and shrugged some before heading out the door after his sister.

 

Dave quickly ran after them noticing the bus had just pulled up and kids were piling into it. As this was the same bus driver that they had every time he knew to wait some for any barely late kids, the three of them made it to the bus somewhat out of breath and filled in some of the seats.


End file.
